Extent

Biographical / Historical

The Research Applications Laboratory (RAL) has grown from a small research and development program (Research Applications Program, or RAP as it was then known) at NCAR in the early 1980s to its current status as an NCAR laboratory with six divisions focused on specific applications areas. The staff is currently comprised of over 200 persons with a diverse set of skills and experience in the physical sciences, social sciences, mathematics, software engineering, project management and administration.

The Research Applications Laboratory is one of five laboratories within NCAR. Its mission is to conduct directed research that contributes to fundamental understanding of the atmosphere and related physical, biological, and social systems; to support, enhance, and extend the capabilities of the scientific community; and to develop and transfer knowledge and technology for the betterment of life on Earth.

All materials have been arranged chronologically within the series as much as possible. Filed projects are arranged alphabetically within the series.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Roughly 20 standard banker's boxes of RAL materials were returned from the Iron Mountain storage facility when NCAR's contract with them ended around 2010.

Inger Barron, RAL secretary, submitted an additional 6 boxes of RAL grey literature, field project documentation, and administrative materials in July of 2015.

Corinne Morse, project Software Engineer on the JAWS Juneau project, submitted a box full of logbooks in September of 2015.

Inger Barron also submitted materials from Dan Breed upon his retirement. These materials consist of a project manual and microfilm from the Convection and Precipitation Electrification Experiment (CaPE) in October of 2016.

Lisa Goodrich, Research Assistant & Computer Tech, submitted four (4) films that were digitized; and 8mm videotapes that were not digitized; as well as 1 film called "July Hailstorm", which has subsequently been digitized in 2018.

Material was also transferred from Bob Barron, Kathleen Miller, William Mahoney, and Bruce Carmichael in 2017 and 2018.

Processing Information

All original materials were removed from ringbinders, folders, plastic fasteners, envelopes etc., and paper clips, rubber bands etc. were removed. All materials were re-housed in acid-free folders where appropriate. Duplicates were weeded.

As much as possible, the original arrangement of the files was maintained. Materials under one subject matter - e.g. Field Projects - were gathered and re-housed together, in a chronological order where the date was known.